"Sir... can we... really stop the Han bandits?" This question sounded even more harsh to Hirosect, who had been upset at the beginning.

How do I know if I can stop it? If I know, would it be necessary to be so worried? He couldn't help but curse in his heart.

Now, for so many years, most of the powerful officials and generals had already withered, but their descendants had already lost the courage and blood of their ancestors in their generous life, especially in this frail and sickly main body.

I couldn't see any heroic spirit from my father and grandfather on my body.

These days, he has been worried, especially when he heard the news that Katsura Mizuno, the lord of the Fukuyama vassal state, was killed by the Han gang army, and he was even more anxious all day long, fearing that he would suffer such an end.

Time had already sent his family and relatives to Kanto. If it weren't for the fact that Himeji and the shogunate had rejected his request to move back to Kanto, he would have abandoned his Himeji Fan and fled back to Kanto.

Even so, he did not give up his original fear. He has been around Hirosect these days, as if he wanted to use him to give himself some courage. If it weren't for the concern that many families are in the internal power of the shogunate

Shen, Hirosomumi Ichikura had already punished him for such cowardly behavior.

"We have received the favor of the shogunate for generations, and it is also the genealogy daimyo determined by the gods. We should be loyal to the shogunate until the last moment. What's the use of thinking so much?" He couldn't help but secretly scold the other party, "Now the shogunate is in trouble,

It is the time when we are killing ourselves to serve the country. We just need to do our loyalty to the shogunate! As for whether we can stop it or not, it depends on God’s will."

"Yes...yes." Honda Masato's face changed slightly, but he didn't say anything else and just nodded slightly.

Although he knew that the other party was not convinced of his words in his heart, Hirosen Ichikura was not interested in arguing with this genie Daming again. Since he arrived at Himeji, he ordered that all the gathered vassal troops be taken over to his own family.

Next, he will personally command it - and the Honda Masato was not resistant to this. He knew that he did not have much experience, so he might as well follow the leader.

But even on the surface, how calm and composed, how much confidence does Orchidang Shigesun have? He grew up in a peaceful era, and he himself did not have much confidence to defeat them in front of the Han army, forcing the Han gang to stop.

Western Country.

So he has been reporting to the shogunate for a while, hoping that the shogunate can send more reinforcements and elite troops to support him in the future. Although the shogunate has been dispatching troops to Kyoto recently, he always feels that it is not enough, so he

It's been shrinking the surrounding power all the time.

However, no matter what, Himeji Castle is a fortress, and behind Himeji Castle is a plain, until Kyoto is a smooth road. If Himeji Castle is captured, the Han gang army can march all the way, and may even fight directly

When you arrive at the capital of Kyoto, the entire Kinki will become a place of war.

So even though he felt that his hands were not strong enough, he still brought an army to Himeji Castle in person, intending to rely on this fortress to try his best to resist the Han gangs.

He stood on the big sky guard pavilion in the center of Himeji Castle, looking down at the army patrolling around the city.

After the Han gang landed, many people in the city chose to escape from the city because of fear. As soon as he arrived, he ordered all the civilians in the city who had nothing to do with military affairs to migrate to Kinki and Kanto, so now Himelu

There are not many civilians in the city, and soldiers are everywhere.

These civilians who were driven away, Hirosong, who had poor resources, did not give them any guarantees, but just drove them away, so they must face a very difficult situation along the way and could only wander around, but

In Hirosumu Itami, this is a little better than being trapped in Himeji Castle and becoming a victim of artillery fire on both sides.

Of course, in addition to fighting the Han gang's march to the death, he also received another order from Edo, thousands of miles away. Compared to waiting for assistance and resisting the Han gang, this order cannot be promoted, and can only go secretly.

Do.

That's right, while sending reinforcements, Edo also sent a group of envoys, who were all confidants of Old Nakachi Doi, and this time they came here with a special mission - and this special mission

, except for Hirosomumen, only a very small number of people know about it.

The Han Dynasty was rampant everywhere, with wars everywhere, and a special manifesto was issued to attack the shogunate, and to make the shogunate general Tokugawa Iemitsu and his important officials pay the price for their disrespect to the Han Dynasty before, but the shogun actually secretly planned to do so.

The big man had a peace talk and wanted to compromise with them - if this news spread, it would probably bring great shock to others.

Nowadays, the shogunate has always announced on the surface that it would fight the Han gangs to the end, and should take Hojo Toshizo as an example, and the whole country should work together to resist the invasion of the Han gangs. Who can imagine behind the scenes? It is the shogun and the important officials.

Are you trying every means to compromise with the Han bandits, or even planning to pay a huge price?

However, Hirosomumen Hirosen accepted this reality. After all, he was going to face the Han gang Bingfeng in person, so naturally he hoped that this sudden war would end earlier than anyone else. How miserable the displaced refugees are, he has already

After seeing this, he was very afraid that if he continued to fight, the people of Kanto would also suffer such terrible disasters. He was even more afraid that the shogunate rule collapsed in the midst of the storm, and that he would also let him be buried with him with such a biography.

After Honta Masato left the top floor of the Datian Shou Pavilion with a nervous mood, the top floor began to become silent. It was not until a long time later that a few fragmented footsteps rang behind him.

This is a young man about forty years old, dressed like a normal samurai, but he looked quite gentle and looked like a civil servant, not a samurai who went to fight to kill the enemy.

"See sir." When I came to the back of Hiroshi Sect of Itankura, the person who came respectfully saluted him.

He is Takagi Kiyoshi, the confidant of the old man Bito Doi Rikashi, and the leader he sent to take charge of the peace talks this time.

He is cautious and has a very careful attitude. Although he is not at a high position in the shogunate, he is attracted by Tatsuka Doi. This matter must be done secretly and must be handed over to someone like him.

He also knew the importance of his trip, so since he accepted the order, he rushed from Edo to Kyoto and came to Himeji Castle with Hitokura Shigesen.

Himeji Castle is certainly not the end of his journey.

"Takagi, you can see the entire situation of Himeji Castle and even the West all the way through this journey, so you must be clear about the importance of your mission this trip, right?" Ichikura Shigesong did not look back at him.

, but still looked at the numerous buildings in the distance, "You must be careful in your actions and never let them down."

Although Takagi Kiyoshi is the confidant of the old master, Hirosen Itakura was the Sojitoshi of Kyoto and was only one step away from the old master in the shogunate system. He has a very high status, so you don’t have to be polite when talking to him.

"Sir, please rest assured, I am fully clear." Takagi Kiyoshi still lowered his waist and replied respectfully, "The current situation is difficult, and it will be ruined every day, so I am willing to take on the risk of my life and go to the shogunate and

Negotiations between Han gangsters. As soon as the traces of Han gangsters are found, they will go immediately."

"I certainly don't know the specific route of the Han gangsters, but judging from the speed of their march, it won't take long to arrive in Bomo Country, so you just need to go southwest immediately and you can meet them soon

"The army is here." Hirozo Itakura replied immediately, "However, you must keep it confidential along the way and you must never let anyone know the purpose of your trip until you meet the leader of the Han gang. Do you understand?"

"The old master is also instructing me, so I will never disclose the news." Takagi Kiyoshi answered immediately.

"The Han Kou is now in full swing, and morale is strong, so they probably won't agree to the conditions we have put forward at once. So if they refuse, don't be discouraged, as long as they can build a new member of the Han Kou first.

Contact them to let them know what we think. This time you have completed the task initially - in addition, you should pay more attention to collecting information about the Han bandits and figure out how many troops they have now and what the troops are composed.

, How morale of the enemy is, these information is also very useful to us." Ichikura Shigesomor continued to explain, "This is probably a long-term negotiation, and you must not lose the face of the shogunate."

"I will definitely do the things I have assigned by the officers and try my best to find out the news about the Han bandits." Takagi Kiyoshi immediately agreed.

"Very good, it seems that the old master did not choose the wrong person." Hirozo Itakura smiled with relief, "Time doesn't wait for anyone. You can travel west of the city tonight in the dark, so that you won't be provoked by the army.

Commotion. I will send a few loyal and polite people to escort you."

"Thank you, sir!" Takagi Qing nodded heavily, and then suddenly became serious again, "Sir, when I came, the old middle school student also explained to me - he said that the Han bandits were ambitions and were insatiable,

If everything goes well, it will be a huge price and we will put forward conditions that are absolutely unacceptable to us. If we want to withdraw the Han gangs on conditions that we can accept, we must show that we can still resist them, so sir,

We must try our best to stop the Han bandits at all costs. Even if they cannot stop them, they will suffer unbearable losses!"

"This is natural," Hirosozo Itakura raised his head and looked at Himeji Castle again, "Himji has such a natural danger and has fortifications that have been worked hard for generations. It is indestructible. Even if the Han gangsters are strong, they want to break through this place.

If they are going to be thrust into their heads, they should be sensible as long as they have learned enough lessons here."

"I just hope that what the adult said will come true." Takagi Kiyoshi smiled slightly, and then suddenly lowered his voice, "There is another thing, please be careful. This matter involves great importance, and the old and middle-aged man specially designed it.

I have told you only to tell the adults.”

"What's the matter?" Ichikura Shigesen was a little confused.

"Just before leaving Edo, the shogunate received news that Lord Dainayan fled Takasaki Castle where he was imprisoned, and disappeared." Takaki Kiyoshi said the news in a low voice, "In order to avoid shock in the world, this matter is temporarily

It is secret, but please be careful and never let Lord Da Nayan contact the Han bandits!”

"Master Danayan... actually fled..." When I heard this news, Hirosect of Itakura was also very shocked.

Daina, Tokugawa Tadaoka, was the legitimate son of the previous general, and had previously fought for the position of heir with the current general Tokugawa Iemitsu. Even now, Tokugawa Iemitsu has no son, he is still a theoretical shogun.

The most legitimate heir of the great rank.

Because of this special identity, his escape will of course bring great shock to the shogunate.

What is even more worrying is that if he had contacted the Han bandits, he would inevitably become a chess piece in the hands of the Han bandits like the court, and be used by them, and become a weapon against the shogunate general.

So no matter what, the escaped Lord Danayan cannot contact the Han gang. Just for this reason, the shogunate still sent a large number of people to search for Tokugawa Tadaoka, and Tokugawa, while the troops were tight everywhere.

Kawaya-Kuan also issued a special order, claiming that his younger brother had committed a serious crime of corruption and could be killed on the spot without having to worry about his identity.

The Hirosect of Itakura naturally had to guard against it and never let Tokugawa Tadara and his supporters have the opportunity to contact the Han gangsters.

After Ichikura Shigesen understood what the old master meant, he quickly said that he would pay attention, which made Takagi feel relieved.

That night, Takagi Kiyoshi and others, escorted by the guards assigned by Himeji Sect, left Himeji Castle at night and headed towards the West.

And as they had guessed, the army led by Zhou Pu had marched all the way and came to the junction between Bomo and Beiqian countries.

Since they defeated the army of Katsunari Mizuno, the Fukuyama vassal vassal lord Katsunari Mizuno and killed Katsunari Mizuno, the surrounding wealthy vassal lords were even more frightened. No one dared to confront the Han army again, and they fled in sight, and his advance

It also became very smooth. If it weren't for the smooth flow of the logistics transportation line, his army might have even entered Kinki.

However, he and the senators around him were not lost because of this series of victory. Not only did they advance to the army with a steady pace, but they also began to become cautious about the subsequent assessment of the war, and they no longer had the previous ones.

optimism.

"The shogunate is indeed decisive and dares to give up the entire Western country, firmly clear the world, and wait for us to fight with ease!" In the temporary camp, Huang Changguo sighed at Zhou Pu, "Mr. Zhou, when we thought about it before, we all felt that

The shogunate would be unable to hold back and fight with our army, and then our army could defeat it, and then let it attack Kinki. Now they are so decisive. No matter how we provoke them, they would not go south to fight with our army, forcing our army to be unable to do so.

If we go north, we will lengthen our supply lines... the more we gather the dispersed forces, the stronger they will be. I am afraid our army will have a lot of difficulties next."

"This is also expected. I never thought of going to Kyoto smoothly." Zhou Pu was not anxious, "Besides, the more shogunate the more we can attract here, the more we can cooperate, not the more we can cooperate.

Did Zhao Shuai and the others do it?"

"After that being said, if we encounter setbacks and cannot move forward in a short time, we will lose the face of the great man and the prestige of the great man in front of these vassal lords." Huang Changguo replied seriously. "Don't forget,

There are only more than a thousand Han soldiers along the way. If these vassal lords are really scared and even have a second thought, the consequences will be unimaginable..."
To be continued...